Annapolis fights off Falcons, wins, 9-7

Juniors dominate as Panthers stay unbeaten

Annapolis, at No. 8 the Baltimore area's highest ranked public school team, got all it could handle from visiting Severna Park before taking a 9-7 victory last night.

The game was a match-up of not only the county's longest running public school rivalry but also a game pitting a pair of junior-dominated teams.

All nine Annapolis goals came from juniors. Attackman David Wooster and midfielder Josh Lesko each scored three times to lead the Panthers.

Four of Severna Park's goals were by underclassmen, too, with junior midfielder Mac Chase tying senior attackman Hans Hergenroeder with two goals each.

The defending Class 3A-4A state-champion Panthers (10-1 overall) remained the only undefeated team in the Anne Arundel County League at 8-0. Severna Park dropped to 6-5 overall, 6-2 in the county.

Severna Park, which has been struggling, was a surprising 7-3 loser to No. 15-ranked Southern, a Class 2A team, last week. The Panthers were fully aware of how bad the Falcons needed a win.

"It's Annapolis-Severna Park," said Panthers assistant coach Bob Bohannon, who coached youth lacrosse in the Penninsula Athletic League with Severna Park coach Mike Bellotte, a former Annapolis player. "They've lost a couple tough games, and Mike [and his brothers] know what they're doing. We have a chance to see them again down the road."

Brendan and Chris Bellotte are assistant coaches to their brother Mike.

The Panthers took a 4-2 lead at the half on goals by juniors Will Phillips and Drew Samaras and two of Wooster's three.

Severna Park outshot Annapolis 16-10 in the first 20 minutes but had only goals by senior Mike Cosper and junior Dan Furbish to show for the effort. The Falcons had the ball most of the first half.

Annapolis senior defenseman Paul Haberlein, headed to the Naval Academy, and his younger brother in the goal, Robby Haberlein (20 saves), had a lot to do with the Falcons not putting more points on the board.

Lesko took over the third period, using his jump shot to score all three of his goals with Wooster assisting on the first one to build a 7-2 Panthers lead.

Hergenroeder used his left-hand to score his first goal of the night to cut the Falcons' deficit to 7-3 with 4: 12 remaining in the third period.

Annapolis, penalized for slashing and other violations as the game got rough, was down a man for the final five minutes of the third period, but the Falcons could not capitalize.

Chase scored his first of two extra-man goals early in the final period to make it 7-4, but Lesko went over top of the goal to feed Wooster, who shot past Steve Smith (five saves) to put Annapolis back up by 8-4.

Wooster's third goal did not demoralize the Falcons, who would cut the lead to one goal with 2: 52 remaining.

"We knew [Severna Park] would step up tonight," said Annapolis coach John German. "They've lost a couple games they think they should not have lost, and this was a game to bring back their season. We knew they weren't going to quit."

A left-handed bounce shot from Chase made it 8-5 with 8: 24 on the clock, and 22 seconds later it was 8-6 as Dennis Cantwell fed Hergenroeder.

Annapolis called timeout, and Bellotte yelled at his players: "You can't be tired."

They weren't.

Junior Starke Mueller's goal made the score 8-7 with 2: 52 left. Pat O'Brien, a junior midfielder, then scored his only goal of the night, but it was huge.

Wooster assisted O'Brien to give the Panthers a 9-7 lead with 2: 10 showing on the scoreboard clock at Al Laramore Field.

That goal did it for the Falcons, who had no more comeback in them. They were spent.